Addressing Homelessness: Who is eligible for Santa Monica’s Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)?
August 19, 2024 8:15 AM
by Heather Averick
Pictured: Residents, outreach workers and case managers fill out paperwork at move-in day at The Laurel, a city-funded Permanent Supportive Housing project.
Permanent Supportive Housing, or PSH, is housing for individuals who often have co-occurring chronic health conditions and have experienced years of trauma while living outdoors. It includes wrap-around services tailored to each individual person to help them gain housing stability and remain housed. Only residents of a PSH community are eligible for the on-site services offered.
This is part two in the city’s series about Permanent Supportive Housing and why it is effective at helping people who have experienced homelessness gain housing stability. If you missed part one, check it out here.
Who CAN move into PSH?
In Santa Monica, PSH apartments are offered to individuals who qualify as “Santa Monica Priority Population,” or SMPP. To be considered SMPP, an individual must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Lost housing in Santa Monica
- Was working in Santa Monica at the time they became homeless and/or currently works in the city
- Has been experiencing homelessness in Santa Monica for at least five years
- Is a high utilizer of city services, particularly first responders.
Who CANNOT move into PSH?
Residents in PSH must be able to live independently. If an individual requires a higher level of care – such as a mental health crisis stabilization bed – they are not a candidate for PSH.
As part of the applicant screening process, the Santa Monica Housing Authority conducts a background check of applicants (and often the building’s property management conducts one as well).
The following individuals are not eligible for PSH:
- Lifetime registered sex offenders
- Households in which any member was convicted of any of the following criminal activities within the past three years:
- Drug-related criminal activity
- Violent criminal activity
- Criminal activity that may threaten the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of other residents, surrounding neighbors or staff at the community.
Non-SMPP individuals who are passing through Santa Monica or have moved to Santa Monica from a different state or city – including the city of Los Angeles – are not eligible for Santa Monica’s PSH communities. City-funded outreach teams and the Police Department’s Homelessness Liaison Program, or HLP team, connect non-SMPP individuals to Project Homecoming or other county and regional resources.
Read more in our next blog post about the role PSH plays in Santa Monica’s approach to Addressing Homelessness and how communities ensure safety and security for residents and neighbors.
Authored By
Heather Averick
Director of Housing and Human Services